Comment · Wed, June 24, 2015 · Ceretropic
Caffeine acts through neuronal adenosine A2A receptors to prevent mood and memory dysfunction triggered by chronic stress (2015)
What they were answering
darbyhouston · 5 points
Can you describe the glutamate/adenosine connection? I'm a neuro student and I've read a lot of papers about single neurotransmitter systems, but I haven't had any way of making the connection between them.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic
It is pretty complex. Adenosine receptor antagonists, like caffeine, reverses the effects of glutamate in the frontal cortex. However, adenosine itself stimulates glutamate release at low concentrations, and inhibits it at high concentrations. So depending on the concentration of adenosine, it can modulate the release of aspartate and glutamate up and down. The study above showed that A2A receptor antagonists protect from the deleterious effects of glutamate, and that A2A receptor agonists stimulate the release of glutamate.